Islamabad: Directorate General of Immigration and Passports has launched a short messaging service (SMS) to help the applicants track their passports and get them easily.

The applicants can find their documents by sending an SMS, containing their tracking number to 9988, whereby the automated system would respond with the information containing the status of their passport.

“It is one of the key milestones in easing the process of receiving passports as the hassle for an individual to visit the passport office repeatedly has been removed and one can confirm the status of his/her passport status through SMS service,” said Director General (I&P) Sikander Sultan Raja.

The service has become functional immediately and the passport applicants could retrieve information on the status of their passport application, as soon they receive their tracking numbers.

This service is available to all the applicants who have applied for their passports since March 2013, he said.

The system is programmed to respond in four different scenarios.

An applicant would be informed about the box ID and shipment date for passport collection. Secondly, it would convey the status of passport, if it were still in process after verification of facial and AFIS.

The system would also tell about deference of the case, where the passport office required more verification. And fourthly it would tell if an applicant had entered an invalid token ID.